Black Hawk Down In School Field

Friday, 4 April 2025, 8:25 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

As heli-logging work came to an end on the Whakatāne District Council forestry block on Valley Road this week, Apanui School students got to celebrate with a visit by Kāhu Helicopter Services’s Black Hawk.

One of the Kahu team has children at Apanui School and took the opportunity to give the Apanui students a close up look at the helicopter and clamber around in the back of the beast before it headed out of town on its next mission.

Logging work on the forestry block began on January 20. It was considered necessary as there was a risk the trees, which had reached maturity, could fall on their own.

The work was expected to take about four weeks, however, in mid-February the helicopter was employed to help with the last section of trees which were growing on a steep slope, as it was the safest way to manage the operation.

The sight and sound of the Black Hawk has become a regular feature above Whakatāne over the past month.

Council community experience general manager Alexandra Pickles said the logging part of the Valley Road tree harvest was almost complete, with the last truckloads of timber scheduled to be loaded by the end of this week.

Valley Road has been open for the past week, with the exception of a partial closure on Wednesday for the final helicopter work. Minor traffic management could be in place during the next two weeks, but road users would not need to detour.

She said the total cost of the project would not be known until all expenses and revenue from log sales were finalised.

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